Chapter 1- ROCK BOTTOM

The front door shut quietly behind Scarlett as she walked timidly behind her husband and his family. 

It had been a long day of one of their unending social events and they had been outside giving fake smiles and poses for the media and newspaper covers. One would think that she would finally have some peace indoors but the fire she faced indoors consumed her more than the 7 hours of blazing sun that burned the back of her neck outdoors.

The Ashbournes had long stopped pretending to like her and tonight at the quarterly family dinner hosted at her own marital home, they pretended she didn’t even exist.

She sat at the far end of the 12 foot dining table- silent and invisible, hoping that it would all end soon and she would retreat to her room and rest her head. Her back ached but she still sat upright in her custom versace dress, her hair sparkled in expensive diamonds but still she didn’t belong- she never had.

“You should really consider a bow tuck , Scarlett“, her mother in law, Christine’s voice floated across the table, barbarous and cruel “ Your eyelids are drooping. You look tired and we can’t afford that on the covers, or can you?”

Laughter followed immediately. From Grant’s extended family relatives who had never worked a day in their lives.

Grant said nothing-of course he didn’t. He didn’t even look at her. He hadn’t for months. She wondered often if it was because of shame of having her as a wife or guilt over the change in his attitude towards her.He had never defended her or even considered her a wife at all. After all, wasn’t she just a payment married into the family to pay her father’s debts? The same debts that killed him anyway.

She had now landed into a loveless marriage and power hungry, money loving in laws who would do anything to stay at the top. Headlines that stylishly mocked her inability to conceive and a husband that only looked at her when he wanted to humiliate her and blame her for all his shortcomings.

The onset of the marriage to Grant wasn’t all rosy but it wasn’t as bad as it was now either. They were both young adults coerced to marry each other and she didn’t expect him to love her instantly but they had their days at the piano where he taught her how to play and told her endlessly on how beautiful she was and their mornings where he was always in awe of how bright her red hair shone in the sunlight.

Things were beginning to look up and only took a turn for the worst when his mother moved in with them and took over their marriage, putting Scarlett through multiple medications and encompassing Grant's mind with bad thoughts about Scarlett.

Scarlett blinked hard. Tears burned behind her eyelids from Christine’s words but she forced them down.She would not cry, she would not give them that pleasure.She ignored them and took a morsel of her food, her clenched throat didn’t let the food go down easily too.

After dinner, she stood in the shower and cried long and hard as she always did. Hot water ran down her back until she burned red but it couldn’t melt the ice in her chest.She curled into herself, arms wrapped around her sides as if to hold her shattered heart together.

She closed her eyes and let her mind drift a bit. She remembered the first time Grant kissed her. It was willing. He wanted to, they both wanted it. His touch was gentle, the taste of his lips lingered on hers time after time, kiss after kiss until she could only taste him. His cologne filled her nostrils softly as he buried his face in her neck. His touch was warm and his eyes sparkled when he promised her forever.

She wanted to believe him-she did believe him. He was her husband after all. They were going to make it work. That happiness was indeed short-lived and every day she wished that part of him would return, would love her again but she feared it was far gone. Buried within her reach.

Grant sat on the edge of the bed when she reentered the room. His perfect face slightly visible and his jet black hair shimmering from the moon ray creeping into the room from a crack in the curtain.

She couldn’t see his face properly but knew he was furious. The headlines on the covers didn’t make things easier for them either :

The bond covers : “Ticking Clock for billionaire Charles Ashbourne. No grandchild, no legacy?”

Watermark Front : “ Wall Street Shaken: Ashbourne family races against time to produce an heir”

Dazzles county : “Can the Ice Prince deliver? Ashbourne fortune hinges on Grant’s heir.

As she had expected, all the blame fell on her from everyone as if she was not conceiving on purpose. She often wondered why the patriarch-Grant’s father ,Charles wrote his will the way he did:

“My entire fortune and estate shall pass to the first legitimate grandchild of my bloodline to make the best of it and continue my legacy. Should no legitimate grandchild exist after my passing, my estates shall be liquidated and all proceeds donated to medical research “

Scarlett wished so sovereignly  that she would have this baby for them so they would let her have peace. Maybe he’d love me again, she often thought. She loved Grant.

“I scheduled another IVF cycle”, she started off softly “ I thought maybe-“

“What’s the difference between you and Benedict’s wife?!” He referred to his cousin’s wife who had undergone three successful IVF cycles with her husband.

She stepped forward “ Grant, please I am trying”

He turned to look at her, his eyes cold and his gaze full of disdain. “Trying” he mocked. “ This is the sixth fail! Wait till the doctors tell my mother by morning. It’ll be really over for you! I shouldn’t have married you but you were all your poor father had left to pay his debts. Now he is gone and has left us with even more debt, because what have you ever offered?”

Scarlett sucked in her breath, her chest cracking open and throat tightening as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Her shoulders shook uncontrollably as the tears blurred her vision-hot and endless.” You don’t mean that” she tried to believe herself too.

“If you had any self respect left” he added, “You’d leave before my family  orders you to”

“Grant, please give me one more chance. You said we were going to do this together “, she whispered as fell on her knees and crawled to where he sat , her pride already in shambles . She held his knee.

For a second, just one second. She thought he might soften but then he jerked his leg, making her lose balance. She fell with a gasp as her back hit the floor with a loud thud but the pain was nonexistent.

 What hurt more was the look in his eyes-empty, disgusted, final as he said “ You don’t have any more chances left from me, wait till my mother decides “

Just then, their room door flung open and an angry Christine stormed in “ Another fail?!!”, she bellowed at Scarlett who hurriedly stood up and clenched the towel that hung loosely on her chest.

“Mother I-“ she started as she sprang up and wiped snort and tears from her face. A heavy weight pressed against her ribcage, squeezing air out of her lungs. The room felt hot- she felt choked up.

“And the doctors said they gave you the news yesterday so you knew since yesterday and kept it a secret from us?” Christine added.

“No,mother”, Scarlett cried, “I scheduled another one because I knew how important this is to the family and didn’t want to add more bad news.I’m so sorry” her breath hitched, shallow and fast as the tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably .

“Nonsense!”Christine hollered, her voice sharp enough to slice through metal “you are leaving tonight!! My family has had enough!”

For a moment, Scarlett didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Christine’s words hung in the air like gunfire-loud and deafening.

Leaving? Tonight? Where would she go? She had no one.

Once again, Scarlett fell on her already sore knees, the roughness of the towel slipping off her wet skin,the cold marble floors unforgiving as the hearts in the room as she begged at Christine's feet “Please have mercy on me, please don’t do this please!!”

Panic clawed at Scarlett’s chest. Her eyes darted to Grant, pleading with him to say something but he didn’t. He stood and watched.

Christine ignored all her pleas and began dragging her out. Scarlett tried to cover herself as she was still on only a towel. She turned to Grant again, her voice cracked, barely above a whisper “ Grant! Please!!!”

Grant finally stepped forward and said “ I’m sure she can walk mother, don’t stress yourself “

That was all he could say? Scarlett thought as Christine finally let go of her arm. Her legs wobbled as she stood up.But she fell again and this time her towel slipped just enough to reveal her left breast . She yanked it up, her cheeks flushing with shame.

Grant opened her wardrobe and flung her a dress which she put on shaky limbs with numb fingers 

“Stop crying. You saw this coming Scarlett“ his tone was filled with guilt but he didn’t look at her, didn’t plead on her behalf.

She was still crying as he turned to the table drawers and brought out divorce papers. “Long overdue. Be a lady,Scarlett. Sign them and leave decently” he said it like he had rehearsed it over and over again before now.

Scarlett looked at Grant , long and hard “Please don’t let her do this to me Grant- to us. I love you.”

Grant was about to say something. For a moment Scarlett saw his face soften. But a glance at his mother changed everything and he frowned at Scarlett “Just sign it. Just go”

Scarlett stared at the paper on the table. The ink was neat, legal and permanent. Her name was written at the bottom, waiting to be erased from Grant’s life for good. She looked into his eyes one more time and then,just then, she saw something but it was tiny, too tiny to redeem them from the darkness that engulfed them.

Her fingers trembled as she hovered over the pen. Is this really happening? She thought over and over again.

Her hand moved slowly like it no longer belonged to her as she scribbled her signature on the paper. She set the pen down like it was venom and stood straight. Taller than she felt.

She had stopped crying but her heart rained heavily. She was now utterly alone in this world. No parents , no husband. Nothing.

She walked to the door where Christine stood and looked at her . Christine pushed her out “How dare you look me in the eye!”

“Mother, remember your blood pressure “, Grant warned.

What about me? Scarlett thought. What about my throbbing head? My injured knees, my fractured ankle?

It was cold when she stepped outside the house , the wind slapped her bare arms and the silk dress she wore clung to her like ice as her teeth chattered.As she stepped outside the main gate, she heard Christine tell the security guards to never let her in again.

But something in her ignited that night, something beastly, something angry.

She turned, barefoot on the cold gravel, to  the building where she once thought she would find solace and made a promise to herself.

Revenge …must be served cold!